With arms full of books to borrow, hugs, kisses and promises of phone calls soon, we hopped in the car and headed off to our next town: Portsmouth, New Hampshire.

Portsmouth is a town straight off a postcard and an Instagrammer’s dream.

The only thing that I found to complain about were the packs of tourists but there are plenty of hidden back streets to keep any wanderer happy.

Our hotel was right on the harbor and around the corner from downtown which was straight out of my Stars Hollow fantasy. We strolled arm-in-arm down the street, eating ice cream, peaking in store windows and reading the plaques that seemed to be on every corner, stating some important historical event that happened there.

We grabbed a table in the center of downtown and sat people watching under the sun.

As it seems to always happen with travel, time went by at double speed. We were soon back in the car driving along the twists and turns of upstate New York but decided to make one last stop.

I feel like I’m the only one who had never seen Niagara Falls. Friends who had gone on road trip vacations with their families growing up had talked about making a stop here. My family spent more time traveling to places with island music, where shoes were optional so Niagara remained a place on my bucket list.

If you have no patience for people, you may want to skip the Falls. I sat yelling in my car in full road-rage mode, the entire 45 minutes it took to find a parking spot. We finally pulled into a crowded parking lot where you hear the roar and crash of the Falls before you see them. The closer you get, the more mist engulfs you until, finally, they’re, there in front of you . . . and obscured by a horde of people.

Lupin was not thrilled.

Determined that my road-rage not be for nothing, I scooped him up, marched over and elbowed my way into a spot.

Clearly he was thrilled.

In the end, I’m glad we made the stop. The Falls were beautiful but I don’t think I’d make the trip back.

Isn’t it funny when you look forward for something for so long and then suddenly, it’s over. For as much as I dreamed of this trip, it was so much better than I could have expected.

There’s nothing like travel to relieve stress, renew creativity and make your appreciate life in a new way.

What’s even better is traveling with loved ones, human and furry. I’m already starting to think: where should I go next?